Siren's Song
by pandorabox82
Summary: A/U - Erin is hiding out at Dave's cabin, recuperating after John Curtis tried to take her life. While she is sitting on the dock one day, she meets a woman swimming in the lake. But is everything as it seems?
1. Chapter 1

Erin sighed a little as she stared unseeing at the lake in front of her. David had been so kind as to allow her to use his cottage while she recuperated from almost losing her life to John Curtis, and she had jumped at the opportunity, needing to get away from everything in her life. It seemed like nothing had gone right in her life since she had been asked to bring Alex Blake on to replace Agent Greenaway when she had suddenly quit the BAU. She had known that there was a story there that Agent Hotchner wasn't sharing with her, but she hadn't prodded to find it out. Instead, she had fought to keep an even keel as first Alex, and then David, had returned to her life, upsetting the apple cart and sending her into a tailspin.

It had hardly seemed possible that Alex had been with them for five years before Curtis had decided to make his move. Then again, the man had always been nothing if not patient and methodical. And yet, it had been Alex who had saved her, who had figured out what was going on before Agent Hotchner or David, getting to her side and getting her to hospital before the MDMA had had a chance to really affect her.

And then, she was escaping from them, from her job, from the world at large, trying to find a way to live once more. Alex had wanted to follow after her, to try and mend fences, but Erin's heart had been too fragile to do so when she wanted. Though a small part of her hoped that the olive branch would still be extended to her once she did get back to Quantico.

A haunting melody caught her attention, and she shot her head up, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. She knew that she hadn't turned the radio on, so that meant someone was on the property, singing. Tension filled every pore of her body as she clawed for a gun that wasn't there, and she shot to her feet, looking around for a weapon of some sort.

As she was searching, the song grew louder, penetrating her mind and reaching down to her soul. Large tears began to pour down her cheeks as she let sorrow wash over her, and her feet carried her down to the lake, onto the dock. As she got to the end of the wood, she took a seat and let her feet dangle in the cool water, watching the lake for some indication of what she was hearing.

There was no boat on the lake, so she knew that the music couldn't be coming from there, and Erin sighed as she fell back upon the dock, watching the sky. The clouds were beautiful, and she let herself cry as she continued to sky gaze. The soft brush of fingers against her foot caught her attention, and she sat up with a gasp, looking down to see who had touched her. "Hello? Who's there? Please, show yourself," she said, hating the tremble in her voice.

There was a long silence, and Erin found herself missing the song, melancholy though it was. "My home is on the other side of the lake."

There was a sweetly melodic tone to the woman's voice, and Erin turned her head to gaze at the woman who had just appeared before her. "Did you really swim all the way over here? And you were able to sing that beautiful song while doing so?" She had no idea why she associated the music with the woman, but it seemed right to say so.

"I'm….a competitive swimmer. I have a crazy lung capacity." There was a lie somewhere in those words, but Erin couldn't fathom what the woman might have to lie about. "Would you like to join me in the water? It's a beautiful day for swimming."

Erin blushed a little as she shook her head. "I don't have my swimsuit on, and…"

"You humans hate to get your regular clothes dirty."

Erin frowned a little. "I don't believe I caught your name."

"Oh, yes, silly me. The name I've chosen is Emily. And you?"

"Erin," she replied, finding the woman incredibly strange.

"Oh, that is a very nice name!" Emily pulled herself up so that her arms rested on the dock, and Erin found herself blushing again to see that the woman was topless. "We both have breasts, why are you blushing?"

"I'm just used to being a little more reserved."

Emily shook her head, sending wet locks of hair flying about her face. "Don't be, life is too short for you to be reserved. She stiffened a little, as if she was listening to a voice that Erin couldn't hear. "Well, I have to be going now. Will you swim with me tomorrow?"

"I, I guess that I can do that," Erin stammered in reply, never taking her gaze off Emily's dark brown eyes. The woman smiled and nodded before slipping beneath the water once more. There was none of the usual noise that Erin associated with swimming, and she craned her head to watch for Emily to make her reappearance above the water. Finally, almost a thousand yards out, her head and torso appeared, and Emily turned to look at Erin, waving her arm.

Erin couldn't help waving back, though she did feel a bit foolish in doing so. Shaking her head a little, she got up and made her way back to the cabin, unable to stop thinking about Emily. There was something so intriguing about the woman, and she wondered if David knew anything about his neighbors. It didn't take long for her to get inside, and she made her way to the phone, picking it up and quickly dialing her former lover.

"Erin! I didn't expect to hear from you so soon. How are you enjoying my cabin?"

"It's lovely, David, thank you again for letting me stay here. How is Alex doing?"

"She's decided to follow James to Boston. I think that you might have to give her a call when you decide to come out of hiding. She misses you more than she lets on."

"Well, we were finally getting back to a good place in our friendship when Curtis tried to kill me. I do hope she realizes why I had to get away and recover for a little bit."

"I think that she does. We all miss you, though. Have you decided to come back any time soon?"

"No, I might just stay here a little while longer. Um, do you have any neighbors? I can't see any houses from where the dock is, but I met a really nice woman today, and she said that she lived across the lake."

There was a long pause on David's end of the line, and she wondered if he really had to think that hard. "No, Erin. I don't have any neighbors across the lake. I own most of the land that surrounds that lake, and I would know if anyone had built a house on the remaining tract of land. Do you need me to come up and do a reconnaissance mission for you?"

She let out a sigh as she shook her head. "I don't think that will be necessary, David. She seems harmless. Maybe she's just a hippy who likes to live in the woods. After all, she was skinny sipping in the lake."

Erin could almost hear his eyebrows waggling over the phone line. "Please, take a picture of this vision, and let me see her."

"No, David, I'm not going to let you be a lecher!"

"Ah, bella, you know me too well. Stay safe out there, though, and if you need access to a firearm, my gun safe combination is James's birthday."

"I'll keep that in mind, darling. And I'll talk to you soon." She kissed into the phone, listening to him repeat the gesture, a warm feeling of tenderness sweeping over her heart. This was the one ritual that she hadn't been able to get rid of, since it was so sweet. Sighing once more, she set the phone back on its charger and then made her way into the kitchen, grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl and taking a large bite as she made her way into the living room.

Soon, she was lost in the world of her book, and Erin found herself hypnotized by the words, and the faint sound of the woman's song. She didn't ask herself why she might be hearing it once more, since it was so soothing to her heart. And suddenly, she found herself looking forward to what tomorrow would bring.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning was dreary and overcast, which did not put Erin in the mood to swim, at all. Carrying her coffee mug outside, she went down to the dock and took a seat, letting her feet dangle in the water once more. Looking around, she couldn't help but smile when she noticed a pink bikini hanging off the left hand post.

"Oh, Emily, there is no way I'm putting this tired body in a bikini," she murmured as she reached out and fingered the silky material. She hadn't worn a bikini in years, since before her second child was born, and that was almost two decades ago, now. In the distance, she could hear singing, something similar to yesterday's song, but also happier, freer. It made Erin smile to hear it, and she sipped at her coffee, waiting for her siren to appear. The thought gave her pause, and then she shook her head a little. "It's easy to give way to flights of fancy, I suppose," she said as she watched and waited.

The woman didn't disappoint her, appearing at the dock in minutes. "Do you like the swimsuit that I picked out for you?" There was a cheeky grin on Emily's face, and Erin felt bad to disappoint her.

"I do, it's just…I usually wear something a little more conservative."

"I think that you'll look pretty in it. Will you wear it for me?"

It was so hard to say no to Emily, but Erin found herself shaking her head. "Maybe after you've seen me in my regular suit? Then you can decide if you want to see more of me." She blushed a little, a response that caught her off guard, since she wasn't accustomed to being embarrassed at her age.

"All right. So, where is this mythical swimsuit? Do you have it on under your clothes?"

"No, it's so dreary that the thought of swimming never occurred to me. Why don't you come up and visit with me in the cabin? David won't mind me letting a stranger into his home, especially not one as nice as you."

Emily frowned and shook her head. "I don't have clothes to wear," she stammered, looking down at the wood of the dock. Erin couldn't help but peek over the side to see that the woman was telling the truth, she was naked as the day she was born from the waist up. And a strange clench of desire twisted her stomach as she took in the dusky brown nipples that capped Emily's generous breasts. "So I see," she managed to squeak out, closing her eyes a little while Emily giggled.

"Well, you could always swim like me," the younger woman replied, and Erin shook her head. "Fine, then would you please go put your swimsuit on? I'll be waiting here for you to get back."

Erin knew that Emily meant every word she said, the way that she cocked one eyebrow up so impertinently told her so, and she let out a deep breath. "I suppose that I can do that. For you."

"I knew that you'd see it my way, Ma'am," she drawled out, and Erin blushed once more as Emily winked at her. Getting up off the dock, she left her mug there, knowing that it would be the only way that she came back out.

It didn't take long for her to get back to the cabin, and then she was resting against the door, trying to catch her breath. She was really considering going through with this, letting a new friend see her in a swimsuit. Even David hadn't seen her in one, and he had seen her naked on more than one occasion. There was just something to intimate about that outfit, though, as if it had the power to define who she was just by how she looked in it. Finally, she scrounged up the nerve to clamber up the stairs and into the master bedroom.

She couldn't help but peek outside to the lake below, wanting to see if Emily really had stuck around. And as she did so, she managed to see something that too her aback. Blinking a few times to make certain that she was awake, she looked once more and saw the same thing – a bright red tail was slapping down on the water impatiently. Sucking in a breath, Erin found herself suddenly wondering if she had fallen into another dimension.

It took her much longer to change into her one piece than it normally did, and Erin had to convince herself that it was not because her hands were shaking. Finally, though, it was in place, and she wrapped her robe protectively around her body as she made her way back downstairs.

As she walked to the dock, she began to hear Emily's song again, this time it was a joyous tune, and she sighed a little as she let her feet slap down hard against the wood to get the woman's attention. Only, it seemed like Emily was completely out of it, as her song was reaching a raucous crescendo. "Emily!" she barked out, a little more sharply than she intended, and the beautiful song abruptly came to an end as the woman turned in the water to look at her.

"Oh! You're back!"

"I am. And I know what you are."

A look of fear crossed Emily's features before she pasted on a confused look. "I'm sorry?" she asked, trying to sound vapid and uncomprehending.

"I think you know what I mean, Emily. You're a mermaid. I saw your tail when I looked at you from the bedroom window."

A sheepish look replaced the fake confusion, and Emily shrugged a little. "Well, I'm still all woman, even if I do have a fish tail. Besides, isn't this everyone's fantasy? To find an enchanted creature and befriend them?"

It was Erin's turn to shrug as she let the robe slip from her shoulders. "I wouldn't know, I never was like everyone else. I was too eager to sell out my friends and I almost paid the ultimate price for that." She absently traced the horrid scar on her wrist, thinking about how John Curtis had almost murdered her. Absently, she heard a splashing sound, and then she felt the weight of another being next to her, as a cold hand took hold of her wrist, copying the movement of her fingers.

"You were hurt," Emily said quietly. "I was hurt, too, by someone who claimed to love me, but only wanted to use me for my singing voice."

Erin glanced up at her through her bangs, noticing that Emily was crying. "Who would ever want to hurt someone as beautiful as you?" she whispered as she covered Emily's hand with her own.

"Because beauty can be deadly."

"Ah."

They fell silent and Erin found her mind mulling over the question that was threatening to burst from her lips. She just didn't know if it was appropriate to do so. Then again, Emily was a mermaid, so maybe human conventions didn't mean anything to her. "You want to know what my scar looks like."

"Yes?" she asked, turning her body to face Emily. "Or would that bother you? I don't want to upset you at all. I have so few friends in my life right now."

Emily gave her a mysterious smile before taking hold of Erin's hand and guiding it to her breast. "He branded me, before stabbing me. I was left with two scars that proved to me how dangerous human men can be."

Erin nodded as she let her fingers trace out the shamrock brand that marred the smooth skin of Emily's chest. "Was he Irish?"

"How did you guess?"

"The shamrock was a dead giveaway." She let her fingers trip down Emily's torso until the encountered the ugly feel of scar tissue. "And this is where he stabbed you, because you wouldn't let him have his way. Did you love him back?"

"I don't think he ever really loved me, even if I did the stupid thing. I should have guarded my heart a little more carefully."

"Sometimes, we can't control our feelings. We just tumble headfirst into love, and it can destroy us." She was thinking about Alex, and the way they had hurt each other, and once more, she began to cry. In an effort to distract herself from her feelings, Erin took hold of Emily's hand once more and squeezed. "So, you mentioned something about swimming?"

"Yes, let me show you my home. I'll share my breaths with you if you need them." They shared a tender smile, and Erin nodded, deciding to let Emily lead her into the depths of the lake.


End file.
